ConnectShip has successfully completed the USPS MAC™ (Manifest Analysis and Certification) Cycle L certification process. MAC certification process is designed in cooperation with the mailing industry to evaluate USPS^® manifest mailing products manufactured by vendors. MAC determines whether manifest mailing software accurately lists and calculates postage for identical and/or non-identical weight permit imprint mailpieces according to the standards of the DMM^®, IMM^®, and Publication 401, Guide to the Manifest Mailing System reference manuals.

MAC is a voluntary testing program for vendor-supplied software that is designed for manifesting permit imprint mailpieces.  This testing determines whether the software accurately calculates postage and fees and has the ability to produce listings of mailpieces, facsimile postage statements, reports and other documentation. MAC certification is only available to software developers that develop manifest mailing software for resale or internal use.

To complete MAC certification, the software being evaluated must process a set of test cases provided by the USPS specifically for that software package. The testing scenarios within each of these ‘test decks’ are based on a variety of factors including information provided by the vendor during registration for the testing. This tailoring of test cases for the specific vendor’s software ensures that the software package is thoroughly tested for the features supported by that vendor. Vendors are provided up to three test decks. The ConnectShip test decks typically contain between 4500 and 4600 test cases. To successfully complete MAC certification, the vendor must submit the results of a completed test deck in both electronic and hardcopy form and that entire submission must be flawless.

Software that passes MAC certification testing is certified by the U.S. Postal Service to be in compliance with current Postal Service standards. Those standards can be found in the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM), International Mail Manual (IMM), Publication 51-  International Postal Rates and Fees, and Publication 401 - Guide to the Manifest Mailing System. While MAC certification does not guarantee acceptance of the mail pieces prepared using MAC certified software, it does provide national approval of computer-generated facsimiles of the USPS^® postage statements and other manifest documentation.

June 18, 2010